The three greenhouse gases that are the largest contributors to Earth’s warming — carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — reached record levels in 2021, per a new NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) report.
The organization says the annual global average carbon dioxide concentration increased at the fifth-highest yearly rate since 1958. At 414.7 parts per million, the gas reached its highest concentration in the modern record and in records dating back 800,000 years via ice core data.
Methane increased at the highest yearly rate on record, while nitrous oxide saw the third-highest increase. The growth brings both gases to record highs, just like carbon dioxide.
In addition to the higher greenhouse gas concentrations, NOAA NCEI said lake surface temperatures, ocean heat content and global sea level rise reached record levels in 2021.
The annual global sea surface temperature was lower than in 2019 and 2020, but still higher than the 1991-2020 average. The slightly cooler temperatures were associated with La Niña in the Pacific.
The drought across the globe continued in 2021, reaching a peak of 32 percent in August.
There is a link to the full report here. It was released as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society this summer.
Source: WSLS News 10
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